My day, summed up.

-My friend came in as a new patient

-My boss, once again, proved his incredible generosity with a shocking offer

-A lady passed out on me...literally, on top of me. She fainted and I caught her, sort of, and then we both fell to the ground. She's about 6 inches taller than me and 50 lbs heavier. It was quite a scene.

-I sent off my new frames to get lenses put in them, I can't wait to get them!

-I learned a lesson from my 9 year old nephew Noah on how to look at a situation from a positive perspective and trust God's plans.

-I realized, once again, how amazing my friends are. They love me enough to make actual invitations for our farewell party. Invitations on REAL PAPER!

-My mom helped me find the one item that will help me enjoy Scotland's gray, rainy, windy, cool, sun-deprived weather: The Happy Light.

-I assisted on tons of surgery's.

-I drank an Arizona Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey.

-The Visa application process continues.

finding peace in the chaos

Lately I feel like a huge ball of stress. There's tons of big jobs to do before we leave for Scotland September 12th, and time is dwindling. But sometimes the clouds break and I get a breather: a break from the constant bombardment of experiencing 10 different emotions at once while attempting to get 20 million things done.

Today was no different. I had to retreat to the bathroom at work to have a mini-breakdown and then pull myself together, all in the span of about 4 minutes. But before work I had read something in a little book my friend gave me. It's all about experiencing the joys God intends for us and receiving His strength that comes from being in His presence. This mornings blurb was about letting go of my agenda in the midst of all the stress to rest in His unshakable peace. Even when life is a wreck, I can always rely on the calm that Jesus provides.

On a separate, but somewhat related note, I was getting gas at Wa-Wa on my way home this evening and went inside to buy some Half & Half. The line was super long for Wa-Wa. As I stood there, my mind and body were still for the first time in what seems like a couple of days. I guess I was taking in my surroundings, because the man behind me commented, "You must smile at everything." Startled out of my daze, I replied, "What? Oh, Really? Uh, I guess so." He recounted the people and things he had observed me smiling at while we'd been standing in line. Sounds kinda creepy and stalkerish, but he just seemed like a kind old man. After thinking about it for a second, I replied (since we still had more time to wait in line), "I'm moving out of the country soon, and I guess with all the craziness going on, buying milk at Wa-Wa is something I can handle, and enjoy." The conversation went on for a couple more minutes until it was my turn to pay.

This Peace is going to get me through.

Weekend Review

Friday:
-Worked at my job
-Babysat for my boss' 4 kids
-Home to do something, I don't remember what.

Saturday:
-Gilpin Games: ran around in the heat with tons of kids in Gilpin Court
-Home to try and figure out Visa stuff
-RVa Braves game with a group from our church
-Summary: lots and lots of sweating

Sunday:
-Sunday School and Worship at Stony Point Church
-Lunch with our friend Paul at Hop's, a restaurant off of Midlothian
-Home for 30 minutes
-Franklin Street and hang out time afterward with wonderful friends
-Back to Stony Point for a big picnic
-Home
-Bed

Go Team Sponge Bob!

We bought some bikes recently, so our friend Zach let us cash in on the special his employer, Performance Bikes, is having: "buy a bike, get a jersey." We tried them on and were convinced we need to start our own cycling team. If you'd like to join us, all you have to do is get yourself one of these gems. You too, could look as fabulous as we do.

Fun Birthday Surprise

My birthday was June 28th, and I got a present today! I LOVE getting late birthday presents, it lengthens the celebration for way longer. Today at work I recieved a package from the company who makes my addiction.

There was much anticipation concerning this package because it could not be delivered to our new address (a P.O. Box) so I had to talk to the shipper, and email Burt's Bees a couple of times to get them to ship the mystery package to another address. All the while having no idea what was in the package or who it was from.

My incredible sister-in-law Leah is the thoughtful gift-giver! She's just so fabulous. I miss her very much, she and her husband live in California, but I dream of the day when we both live in Richmond again. It's going to be so glorious.

This and this are my two new luxurious gifts.

Thanks Leah!

Change in Plans

I've been convinced to revoke my declaration of no goodbye's at the airport. I was thinking it would make me too emotional on the flight, which is no fun for anyone, but I'm realizing it would be more work to keep people away from the airport. And I certainly do not need to add more items to my checklist.

Be warned, if you come, you might have to carry a trunk.

pretty much a done deal

Our move to Scotland has been official for a while now, but now it's also non-refundable. We just bought our tickets.

Our departure date: September 12th, 5:05 pm from RIC

I can't believe we actually have a departure date. Do you know how many times I've had to say "I don't know" when asked what that date is? Seriously, at least 500x's. NOW I HAVE AN ANSWER!!!

It's kind of surreal. When we were at Continental's website, one click away from the point of no return, my mind was racing, trying to make sure I had thought of all of the 10,000 things that could prohibit us from leaving that day. But then I realized yet again, if it's God's will it's going to happen.

So now it's time to think about saying goodbye. Well, it's time for you to think about it, because I've been thinking about it for two years. But you have to do it before the airport, no goodbye's at the airport.

We've booked a return flight for April 30th so we can be in town for less than a week for our friend's wedding. Hopefully it's a Potluck Wednesday, we'll be arriving just in time for it!

Perfect Timing on a Sad, Sad Day

My husband just made a special trip to surprise me with flowers. Not just any flowers, 18 yellow roses. My very favorite color of roses. Red roses are trite, in my opinion. I don't prefer flowers on a day of celebration, (birthday's, anniversary's, valentine's day; that also seems trite) but today was perfect timing by James: an unexpected expression of consolation for my hurting heart.


Yesterday, while researching plane tickets to Scotland, we realized It would cost at least $2,000 to get Owen to Scotland.

It was never questioned that we would take Owen with us, we couldn't bear the thought of leaving her behind. We already had to make the difficult decision to have Naomi adopted, knowing it would be too taxing on her health to fly as a result of her natural anxious state.

We've spent the last two years fulfilling the requirements for Owen to be allowed into the UK: all for nothing. There's no way we can afford the $2,000 to take her. We could barely afford it if it cost $200, with only one of us working, and tons of other expenses while we prepare to go.

It's our fault for not researching the travel expenses earlier, maybe we wouldn't have gotten our hopes up so much, just to have them crushed. Now we're faced with the difficult decision of what to do with her. But we don't really have options to choose from, it's more a case of hoping a situation presents itself. When we first realized the reality of this situation, I thought, "we have to be able to get her back." Now I know how unrealistic that it. We couldn't ask someone to take care of her for two years, get attached, just to hand her back over to us.

I guess we'll start with the re-homing section of the SPCA's website. Any other ideas?

It actually happened...

We got our electrical work inspected! The saga ends!

When I made the appointment for the inspection last week, I was told it would happen on Tuesday. James made sure he was there at the crack of dawn, and planned on staying until sunset if that's what it took, to make sure he was there when the inspector came by.

He came, (was very nice according to James) inspected, and approved everything except one detail that would have to be changed by the electrician. Not too much of a problem, since the electrician was such a great guy. We would just have to contact him and ask him to change some wire thingy. But then, we'd have to get a final inspection. Sort of a hassle.

But wait! Very early the next morning, James recieved a call from the inspector saying he misread something, and everything checked out OK, no need to change a thing!

Wow. Seriously, that is so awesome. Praise the Lord, because I don't think I could go through that process again.

Thanks Richmond City Inspector. You rock.

The pictures I promised of me and my pregnant friend Anna

Now that my friend Anna has told everyone about her great news, I can share some pictures of us from back in the day. I was thinking of all the incriminating pictures I could post from our crazy days, but then I realized I've packed most of them away already. Be relieved, Anna. Here are a few I came across, (since I'm old and still own photos from a regular camera, they had to be scanned into my computer; you'll just have to deal with the sub-par quality)


Breakfast before the first day of our senior year of high school (Anna's on the right).


Doing something we weren't supposed to be doing, I'm sure.


William and Mary graduation day. Checkout all those awesome sunglasses.


Anna getting ready to by my bridesmaid. Isn't she beautiful!


Anna in true form. You so wish she was your friend.

Babies out the wazoo

Well, I guess not that many, but it sure seems like it! So just the other day, I got this great news. Yesterday, I got MORE of the same! Another one of my very best friends is preggers. (I hate when people say that word. I only wrote it so I could express how much I hate it. You'll never see me write it ever again.)

I'm super excited. Wow, I can't believe it. I've been friends with Nikki since third grade. She is truly unique. You can always count on her to do something ridiculously silly, or say anything to anyone, doesn't matter if she knows you or not. She's got so many awesome qualities. She's always up for a fun time, makes me laugh a lot, loves to figure out how things work, and is completely honest. She knows how to ask the tough questions, it keeps me accountable. Everyone needs at least one friend like her. She's going to be an awesome mom. I can't wait to walk through this new phase of our lives together!

Two friends who got married after me are now pregnant. Wow. I'm not ready, don't ask.

super stoked

My friend Nikki is on her way from D.C. to pick me up and head down to visit her parents at their house on Lake Gaston. We'll be there from this evening until Sunday evening.

When she called yesterday (because she rolls last minute like that) I turned down the invite, accepting a lunch date in Richmond on her way down. Then after talking to James about it, he helped me realize the value of spending time with her. We've been friends since 3rd grade (Val, you're totally right about the whole time thing.) and since she moved to D.C. after college, we don't get many chances to hang out. I know we won't be able to spend this much time together before we leave for Scotland.

Although we have a crazy list of stuff to do before we leave (hopefully the second week of September), people are more important than the to-do-list. I'm so glad to have a fabulous husband with a great perspective who encourages me to do things that he knows is best for me, even when I can't realize it myself.

Here's to water skiing, fun in the sun, great times with good friends, and my top notch husband!